Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria is applied to housing prisoners who are transgender (a) with a certificate of gender reassignment and (b) without a certificate of gender reassignment.

The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service take the allocation of transgender prisoners very seriously. All transgender prisoners (whether or not they have a gender recognition certificate) are managed in line with the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’.

Prisoners are initially held according to their legal gender. If a prisoner wishes to move to the part of the prison estate that does not match their legal gender, a Complex Case Board must be held, chaired by a senior prison manager, to consider any risks involved (both to or from the prisoner).

A prisoner can also be moved via the Complex Case Board process if placing them in the part of the prison estate matching their legal gender presents an unmanageable level of risk (to themselves or to others). Separate accommodation is also available in the women’s estate for transgender women with gender recognition certificates who are assessed as posing too high a risk to be located with other women.